In My Life
by Night Songs 93
Summary: Last in the trilogy following Have You Ever Needed Someone and Down We Fall. Three years later...
1. Chapter 1

"_Welcome home, Mr. Parker!" Drake's assistant, Frank, said as he opened the door._

_Drake stopped dead in his tracks in the doorway. He couldn't believe his eyes, the place was huge. _

"_You can go in, it's yours..."_

"_M-mine?"_

"_Yes, sir. All yours!"_

"_This is an apartment?!" He exclaimed as he slowly entered, "I-it's bigger than my house!"_

"_Well, Spin City thinks a lot of you and is going to take good care of you, sir..."_

_The first place Drake ran for was the balcony. Throwing the door open, he jumped out and leaned against the railing, taking in the sights of the well lit city and..._

"_The Hollywood sign! I have a view of the Hollywood sign?!"_

"_Yes, sir," Frank called from the kitchen, "You also hav-"_

_Drake ran passed him right for the bathroom, "A jacuzzi tub?!" He squealed._

"_If you like, I can give you a tour..."_

"_Uh, no, no that's okay. Actually, I'm really tired," He said, heading for the bedroom, "It's been a long...oh my God!" He cried, "This bed is just for me?!" He jumped onto the double-king sized bed and flopped back, "You sure I'm not sharing with like, twelve other people?!"_

"_Hey, well, you know; you are a rock star," Frank said, "Girls are ganna be throwing themselves at you!"_

_Drake shot up as if he'd been pinched, "G-girls? Thr-"_

"_Groupies, sir!"_

"_Y-yeah, 'course... groupies... 'girl' groupies..."_

"_Yeah! Now, you're all set up, sir, so I'll leave ya to get some sleep!"_

"_T-thanks, Frank..."_

"_No problem, s-"_

"_Don't call me 'sir', okay? It's just Drake..."_

"_O-okay... Drake... g'night!"_

"_Night..."_

_When the sound of the door shutting echoed through the hall, Drake lay back onto the bed and sighed._

_'I'm a rock star... and I'm home... home... in a huge lonely apartment...'_

_Stepping into the small dorm room, Josh found himself greeted with an overly cheery, "Hey there, roomy!"_

"_H-Hey..."_

"_Name's Jack Price..."_

_Josh set his things on what he guessed was his bed. It had been a long night and even longer morning, especially with the weight of the guilt of how he had left Drake on his shoulders._

_Having waited patiently, since it seemed this new room mate was one for wearing his feelings on his sleeve, he asked "And you are...?" _

"_Uh? Oh, J-Josh, sorry, it's Josh Nichols," He said, taking his room mate's hand, "Long night... and morning..."_

"_Nichols?! Not 'the' Nichols?"_

"_Sorry?"_

"_You know a guy named Mike?"_

"_Y-yeah, we met a while ago at a party..."_

"_He's a friend of mine. Told me all about you..."_

"_G-great," Josh chuckled, slightly embarrassed._

"_I have a meeting to get to. You just help yourself to whatever and get settled."_

"_Thanks, Jack."_

"_Anytime, man! See ya!"_

_Once his new room mate was gone, he took out the CD Drake had given him._

_Settling onto his bed, he laid back and through painfully held back tears, stared at the label: "For my brotha"._

"Drake?!" Frank bellowed from the door. After three years of being Drake's assistant, he had become Drake's closest friend, "You awake yet?!" Waiting for an answer, all he got was a low, drawn out groan. Sighing heavily, he marched toward the bedroom of his charge/friend, "Drake, wakey, wakey!"

"Oh, man, no!" Drake cried from under his blankets, "It's your all's fault!" He moaned, "You all just had to throw me a party!"

"Of course we did! Only your third CD and it sold better than your first two combined! Platinum is nothing to sneeze at..."

"Right now I don't care, Frank!"

"You didn't even drink..."

"I don't drink, you know that but you do!" Drake exclaimed, shooting up from under the covers, "Why?! Why aren't you feeling just as bad as me?!"

"I've been in the business a long time..."

"Too long..." He moaned, scooting out from his bed and trudging to the bathroom, "Tell me again what's going on worth getting out of bed for today..."

"Press conference."

"Oh, _goody_."

"Say, Drake, don't you ever check your mail?" Frank asked out of the blue.

"Wha- ma'l?" He asked, mouth full of toothpaste.

"Wha-... uh, snail. Your box was stuffed! And I know you check your email, you're on the laptop every-" Before he knew it, Frank was tackled, pinned to Drake's bed, "D-_Drake_?!"

"Why?! What came, Frank?!"

"W-well just the usual I guess..."

"What usual?! Any-... never mind, where is it?!"

"On the kitchen counter!"

Drake raced for the kitchen. Unable to stop, he swiped up the pile of envelopes as he slid through right into the wall, slamming hard and falling back onto the floor.

"Ow."

"Drake, you alri-"  
"Fine, I'm fine!" He answered, staying flat on his back on the floor, he shuffled through the bills and junk, "Damn." He muttered under his breath.

"Drake? Something wrong?"

"No. No, nothing. I'll be ready in about twenty minutes." He sighed and stumbled back to get ready.

Trying to focus on the computer screen, Josh found himself drawing blanks. Every line he typed, he just as quickly deleted.

"Never going to finish this!" He growled threw clenched teeth. He was so engrossed, he hadn't noticed Jack entering the room.

"What's up, man? You look terrible!" If there two things Josh gave Jack credit for it was he possessed the most upbeat personality of anyone he had ever met and he drove him nuts.

After a year in the dorms, he, Jack and Mike had all decided to go in on renting a nearby house and if it had not been for Mike, he'd have lost his mind.

It was also about a year before Josh learned _Jack_ was once a _Jacqueline_ and the meetings were a support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans gendered students of which he had been dragged to numerous times.

"Ah, dude, this thesis is driving me crazy!"

"Ugh, Josh, you have a year to finish it! You're fine!"

"Says the guy who doesn't have to write one..."

Jack waved him off with a "Phe!" and headed for the bathroom, "I gotta get ready, I'm so late! I gots me a date!"

"She down with the "Frankenweenie"? Josh laughed. There was at least one other thing he gave the 'guy' credit for; his sense of humor about the whole transformation thing.

"Laugh all you want, at least I have a date!"

"Hey! Mike and I are... _close_, but..."

"You know he wants to be more..."

"Yeah, I just... I have other things to worry about..."

"Like that paper? Josh, you need to chillax!"

"You know, I hear that saying one more ti-"

"_You've got mail!_"

"I think you've got mail, dude..."

"No kidding?" Josh said, clicking the mail icon, "Oh... oh man..."

"What?" Jack ran up behind him, staring over his shoulder.

"I-it's... I..."

Leaning in, the name of the sender jumped out at Jack sending him aback, "Drake Parker?! How do you know Drake Parker?!"

"Great. You're a fan?"

"No! But the chick I'm seeing tonight is..."

"Shouldn't you be making sure 'it' isn't going to fall off when you 'meet' her..." Josh tried to change the subject.

"Hey now, I'm not after her for 'that'! She's a nice girl..."

"Sounds like you need your hormone dosage upped..."

"You really think so?"

"No guy isn't after a girl for 'that'..."

"Nice try!"

"What?!"

"Changing the subject! How do you know Drake Parker?!"

Getting up from the desk, Josh hit the save button on his thesis and walked over to the couch to flop, "Mike didn't tell you?" Jack shook his head, "He's my step-brother.", _And I miss him more than anything_.

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting back in the limo on his way to yet another press conference, Drake stared blankly at the glow of his laptop.

"What are you waiting for anyway, Drake?" Frank asked.

"Huh?" Drake looked up as if having been snapped from a trance, "Oh, nothing..."

"You're on that thing more than someone who's job depends on it."

"Okay, Frank," Drake moaned and slapped the laptop shut, "You remember meeting my brother?"

"Josh! Yeah, he was your manager... what ever happened to him?"

"That's what I'd like to know..."

After many threats to his 'manhood', Josh convinced Jack it would be in his best interest to keep his new found discovery to himself.

"Alright! Secrets safe with me!" Jack promised and caught a glimpse of the clock, "Ah, damn it! NOW I'm late! See ya!" He called as he ran out the door.

"See ya..." He answered to Jack's trail and stared at his screen and debated. It's not that he wanted nothing to do with Drake, it was more he wanted Drake to be independent. Much like when they had first met.

After three years of ignoring all the emails he thought maybe Drake would have taken the hint to try and be on his own. It killed Josh he felt so responsible for Drake's dependence, so why was he typing up a response, _The hell are you doing, Nichols_, and to add salt to the wound, he hits send.

There was no turning back now; the email was now in the sent box.

_Face it, you really do miss him that much too..._

Doing as he had always done, Drake simply nodded or shook his head in answer to all the same questions he had heard before until...

"Why don't you ever date?" Came from the back of the room.

"What?!" He squeaked, "I-I date!"

"Then why don't we ever see you with anyone?"

"Okay, those are personal!" Frank jumped in to defended, though it wasn't as if he had never wondered himself why it seemed Drake was so content with being 'alone'.

"I-it's okay, Frank," He called him off, "I'm too busy for dating, that's all." He answered matter of factly.

"So no special someone in your life?"

He had to stop and think about that one. There was someone. Someone very special who he missed very much.

It just wasn't someone he could share with the world at the moment, "No. No one."

Once the horror was over, he and Frank slowly trudged back to the limo.

"You know, Drake, you're going to laugh, but I do know girls..."

"Why would I laugh? And where did that come from?"

"You seemed so... melancholy when the date question came up..."

Reaching for his laptop, Drake shook his head, "Look, it's not that I'm not interested in dating, I'm just..."

"Not interested in girls?" Frank caught him off guard and he looked up with the eyes of a deer in head lights, "It's okay, Drake, really. I'm your friend... but..."

"B-but?"

"Right now you're hot with tween girls and their moms, so I hate to say, but you're right to just to keep it under wraps for now."

Nodding in agreement, Drake went back to his laptop and immediately went for his email, "N-no way! No way!" He hopped in his seat, "He wrote back!"

"Who?!"

"Josh! He wrote back!"

Closing his email, Josh sighed heavily as the realization he was now face to face with a blank page for his thesis, "One more try!" He cheered himself on and cracked his knuckles.

Positioning his hands over the keyboard, he once again drew a blank, "Damn it!" he slapped the keys and pushed himself away when he was once again beckoned with what he considered the 'dreaded' email call, _You've Got Mail!_

He knew who it was and a slight pang of panic struck him when he heard the door slam shut and he frantically closed all his programs.

Including the thesis, "Ah, shit! Shit! Shit!"

"Hey Josh!" Mike greeted as he skipped into the den, "That is you right? Looks like you but it just doesn't sound like you."

"Sorry. I only had a few lines for my thesis typed up," He lied – little white lie wouldn't hurt, right-$ "And I shut it before I saved it..."

"Well, then _shit_!" Mike laughed, mocking him.

"Like I told Jack, laugh all you want, you don't have to write one..." He said softly, ignoring Mike's laugh at his expense.

"Something bothering you?"

What was with people?! Or Josh himself? It seemed his whole life people could tell when something was bugging him, "Nothing! Just pissed I shut this program down..."

"No, I know you better," Mike took Josh by the arm and led him to the living room and guided him to the couch, "Talk."

"So what's he have to say?" Frank asked, trying to snap Drake back from cloud nine.

"Just that he's been busy with school..." He said softly, disappointed.

"Where does he go to school?"

"Whiteman. It's in Washington..."

"You mean Whitman?"

"Yeah, that's what I said..."

"No, you said... forget it," Frank laughed it off, "Whitman is in Walla Walla, right?"

"I think so, why?"

"Well, it's not exactly around the corner, but you do know you have a stop in Seattle on your tour..."

"You think we can visit?!"

"I think we have no time..."

"Come on, Frank! Make time!"

"But! We could always send him a ticket or two..."

Drake thought for a moment; nice as the idea was, it was too big a chance to take for Josh to say he had no time himself and couldn't go.

Sitting tall, Drake stared Frank down and made it clear; "We're going to make time, Frank. I want to see him."


	3. Chapter 3

A few days past since Josh had heard from Drake, _Must be content hearing from me and went back to his life_, He thought.

Wrong.

Heading for the mailbox, Mike was greeted by a FedEx delivery, "Uh, thanks?" He said, confused and taking the envelope.

Looking to see who it was for – not him – it seemed to him these guys didn't care who got it so long as someone did.

Chuckling to himself he noticed the 'from' label, _Wonder how Josh is going to take this..._

Taking advantage of his first class of the day having been canceled, Josh was still asleep when Mike dropped the envelope next to his face.

"Wh-?" He stirred, and knocked the envelope onto the floor.

Mike tried once more, "Wakey up, Joshie! You got something from someone,"

_Something from someone_, He thought groggily, "Who?" He asked and covered his face with his sheets.

"Drake."

"Drake sent me something?!" He shot up from his bed and snatched the envelope, "What could he be sending me?" He wondered and ripped it open.

Not wanting to be too nosy, Mike headed for the door to leave him be when Josh reached out to catch his arm, "He sent me concert tickets..." He said softly.

"Really? Where's he playing?"

"Seattle..."

"That's a bit of a drive. You going?"

"Well, he says in this letter; _I've set up to have you picked up and taken to the airport. The record company said I can let you use their privait jet..._" Josh couldn't help a smile.

"What? You okay?"

"Yeah. He spelled 'private' wrong," He chuckled. Mike smiled and urged him to read the rest of the letter, "_I really miss you. I'm sorry if I may have done anything to make you upset with me to not be speaking to me all this time..._"

"You guys were close, huh?"

You have no idea, "Yeah..."

"Why did you stop keeping in touch?"

Not wanting to have to keep coming up with lie after lie to cover another lie, Josh simply told him, "I'd rather not talk about it, okay?"

"No problem," He assured with a 'no-offense-taken' tone, "Um, so who are you taking?"

"Taking?"

"Yeah! He sent you two tickets..."

"Well...," _Shit_, "_You_ of course!"

_Of course_, "Well, I'm not sure..."

"Don't worry. I'm not either."

_A few weeks later..._

"Heard from Josh yet?"

"No," Drake flopped his head onto Frank's desk in despair, "It's like I said, Frank, we can send him the tickets, the ride and everything, but he's either going to ignore me or find an excuse..."

"I don't know what to tell you. I just don't see us having the time to go to Walla Walla. I'm sorry."

"Is there a stop that's not selling? Maybe not selling enough to cancel it and move some things ar-"

"No, Drake. I'm sorry, I gotta put my foot down on this one... or the record company's foot anyway..." Drake stood and stomped his foot hard on the floor, shaking the loosely put together selves of small breakables next to Frank's desk, "The hell was that all about?!"

"That was me putting mine down."

"Damn it, Drake, I swear if there was anything I could do..."

"There is..."

"What?"

"Well... I don't know! You're my assistant! Assist me!"

Noting Drake had his heart set on this and it was obviously not going to be dropped anytime soon, Frank thought, "Okay. I'll work on something. I'll see what I can do..."

"You're the best, man!"

"_But_!"

"Ugh! What is with people and 'buts'?! I _hate_ b-"

"But... don't get your hopes up, okay?"

"Make up your mind about that concert?" Jack asked, in a way hoping Josh had decided he wasn't going to go. He and the girl he had been seeing had hit it off and what a way to impress her than these tickets.

"I know you want the tickets, Jack..."

"What?! No!"

"Yes..."

"Yes what?"

"You can have them."

"You... you aren't serious!"

Taking them from his wallet, he slapped them into Jack's hand, "All yours. You two kids have fun."

"W-well... how much..."

"Don't worry about it."

Having over heard the discussion, Mike couldn't help chiming in, "Josh, you don't want to do that..."

"Why? You don't want to go and honestly I have no desire to fly to Seattle just for a concert..."

"But it's your brother! I thought you missed him..."

"I do. Just... he's going to be busy and even if I were to get back stage it's crazy..."

"Excuses, excuses," Jack sighed and placed the tickets back into Josh's hand.

"Very good ones," Josh defended, "Now take them. Take your girl. And have fun." He added in a huff and stormed out.

"Why is he so angry with Drake?" Jack wondered aloud, "Jealousy?"

Mike thought for a moment; all the times Josh dodged talking about what might have happened, the night at the party, the night Drake caught them talking at the theater and Drake's behavior...

"_You can have him!"_

And he pointed to Josh...

It wasn't the thought hadn't crossed his mind before, it's just... how to bring it up?

_Hey, Josh, you and Drake were lovers, weren't you? No, _"No, no, definitely not jealousy..."

"Brotherly tiff, then," Jack sighed, "Nice." He fumbled with the tickets with a pang of guilt and handed them over to Mike, "Take them. Make him go."


	4. Chapter 4

"Take the tickets, Josh," Mike ordered, following Josh around the house.

"No." Josh would always answer.

"You want to go, Josh. Take the tickets,"

"No."

Catching up, Mike grabbed hold of Josh's arm, "I know you want to go," He said, slapping the tickets into Josh's hand, "Lets go."

Staring at the tickets, Josh let a heavy annoyance sigh and reluctantly took them, "Okay," He said softly, "But why are you so adamant I go?"

Stepping back, Mike slowly took a seat on the couch trying to find the right words, "Look, Josh, I think I know what's going on..."

"What do you mean?"

Shaking his head, Mike stood and took Josh's hands reassuringly in his own, "You and Drake... you two had a 'thing' didn't you?"

Josh knew he wasn't going to be able to lie, but it wasn't going to stop him from trying, "What?!" He nervously chuckled, taking his hands back and stepping back to pace, "No! Come on, Mikey, we're brothers!" The look on Mike's face spoke volumes; he wasn't buying it. Josh knew he was easily read and over the years Mike had became a pro. Slumping back onto the couch, Josh squirmed, "Yeah," He whined softly, "Yeah, we did," He looked over to study Mike's face, the expression unchanged, "Well, you going to say anything? Call me names? Anything, just don't sit there, man..."

"All I can say, Josh... all I can think is you're _step_-brothers, so it's at least not blood, but..."

"But?"

"Why didn't you just tell me? Don't you trust me?" Stabbed Josh in the heart, "I would have understood. I would have understood a lot more about your attitude toward him... toward me..." Shoved the knife in deeper.

"Mike," He choked, "I-I do have feelings for you..."

"No," Mike slapped his hands to his thighs and stood, "No, you still have feelings for Drake and you're denying it by saying you have feelings for me," He tried to smile, but Josh's defensive stance had him taking his own.

"How can you say that? You make it sound like I've been leading you on-"

"Josh, we've been 'friends' for three years..."

"So you're saying you do think I was leading you on..."

"Well, in a way... yeah..."

"Still no word from Josh?" Frank asked, narrowly dodging a balled up piece of paper, "Take that as a no..."

"I knew he'd do this," Drake said softly. The hurt in his tone sending a pang through Frank's chest, "Don't know why I bother anymore," Walking over to Drake, Frank stood over him, a beaming smile forced across his face, creeping Drake out, "What? Dude, you're freaking me out here. I'm hurting and you're smiling, what gives?"

"What if I told you we've been given the okay for a quick stop-over in Walla Walla?" Frank said quickly, bracing himself for the explosion of celebration from Drake.

"So we can do it?! We can stop in Walla Walla?!" Drake said excitedly, his leg beginning to jump and shake.

"Yes-" Frank said reluctantly when Drake cut him off, quickly jumping up and punching his fists into the air.

"YES!"

"But..." Stopped the celebration cold.

"Damn it, Frank! What now?"

"They said we'll be cutting it close. Probably _too_ close..."

"How close?"

"Like we better find a way to land the plane on the stage-close..."

"You know what, Frank?" He said with a pat to Frank's shoulder and so seriously it made the hairs on the back of Frank's neck stand on end.

"Wh-what, Drake?"

"I really don't give a fuck."

It was becoming and all too familiar sight; Josh staring blankly at his laptop. He tried to think of how to tell Drake he'd be going, but that Mike would be there too.

And how after a very long, very serious talk, it boiled down to he truly did in fact have feelings for Mike and he hoped Drake would understand. Or at least have figured out by now things were going to be different.

He'd begin to type, just to pull away from the keys as if they were going to snap his fingers off, _You don't have to tell him anything. Just that you are going to be there, you don't even really have to tell him about Mike. Just say, _

Hey, Drake! How's it going? Sorry it's taken so long for me to get back to you, school and all. Thanks for the tickets! Mike and I can't wait to see you!

Josh

SEND.

"Shit!" He cried, grabbing at the screen as if he could pull the email back, "The hell did I just do?! Josh you _idiot_!"


	5. Chapter 5

Drake stared lock-jawed at the screen. He couldn't believe Josh had finally written him back.

Not only that, but he was on his way to see Josh and by now Josh was on his way to Seattle.

Just the fact he accepted his invitation, but...

"Mike?" He wondered aloud, catching Frank's attention from across the aisle of the plane he had already forgotten was en rout to Walla-Walla, "Mike... Mike..." He searched.

"Mike?" Frank echoed, "Who is Mike?"

"It's what I'm trying to-" He started when it hit him. He jumped from his seat, his laptop crashing to the floor, Frank diving for it as Drake turned to punch the seat, "Damn it!" He cried.

Staying on the floor to avoid any fist flying, Frank cautiously looked up, "What's wrong?" He asked nervously, "You... remember this Mike... I take it-"

"Yeah. Yeah, I remember this Mike real good." He answered sharply, dropping back into his seat.

Feeling it safe to move, Frank collected the barely alive laptop, stood and slowly handed it back to Drake who waved it away.

"Okay, Drake," Frank said, setting the laptop down and taking a seat in front of him. Slapping his knees, he readies himself to have to have to shut Drake up quick, "Who is this Mike guy and why the attitude all of the sudden?" Drake did go to speak, and to his surprise, Frank raises his hand to stop him. Ignoring Drake's surprised gasp, Frank continues, "Who were all excited about Josh coming. I know you're going to hate me for this, but when you dropped your computer I saw the email. Now, who is Mike?"

Drake shut his mouth and fell back into his seat. Fighting back tears, Drake quietly chokes out over the intercom, "Turn the plane back to Seattle, please."

The flight was quiet. Almost too quiet. Despite Mike was fine with everything, Josh still wasn't. He hated himself for stringing a wonderful guy like Mike on. Even more so the fact Mike didn't believe he'd rather be with him than Drake.

Everytime he'd open his mouth he'd shut it just as quick, afraid of what Mike might say when Mike's voice jolted him to.

"Hey, Josh," He said softly, more to not disturb the other passengers, "I was wondering something," All Josh could do was nod and force a smile, "Are you taking me to get to Drake?"

Josh couldn't believe his ears, "What did you say?"

"Come on. I don't mean to start anything on a plane, but this seems as better time than any. No good time to ask something like this, so... are you using me to make Drake jealous?"

Josh sat back, took a deep breath and tried his best not to burst. No matter what he said, Mike wasn't going to believe him, "Would you believe me if I said no?" He asked, matter of factly.

Letting a quick, soft sigh, Mike nodded, "Yeah. But as far as you wanting to be with me and not Drake... I want to know the honest to God truth, Josh..."

"Honest to God truth, Michael, is yes. I want to be with you. Not Drake."

Mike searched Josh's face for any signs until he caught Josh staring at him out the corner of his eye and he quickly turned away, "Mike," Josh started, when Mike cut him off.

"Look, if when you see Drake you can still tell me you want to be with me... then we'll see, okay?"

Josh nodded. Not much more he could say to that, it seemed reasonable enough.

Placing a hand on Mike's, Josh smile's, "I can do that." He assures.

Feverishly chasing Drake down back stage, Frank tries his best to calm the guy before he's to go on, "Drake! Please, talk to me! As a friend," He pleads when Drake suddenly stops, grabs him by the arm and pulls him into the nearest dressing room, the occupant unknown to Drake, demanding they leave only to have Drake turn and burst.

"YOU get out!" He demands of the person, who frightened, does as he's told and Drake explains as best he can to Frank the deal, "Look, you are my friend, right?"

"Yes, of course..."

"As my friend, you will not judge, right?"

"Drake," Frank says, a bit of hurt laced in his voice, "I won't do anything to hurt you, so please talk to me..."

Sitting down and taking a deep breath, Drake begins, "Look... a few years ago... this guy, Mike, I made a total ass of myself..." Looking for Frank's reaction and getting nothing, Drake continues, "I tried to... I..."

"Drake, you trying to tell me you hit on him?" Drake was a deer in the headlights, "You are, aren't you?" Drake nodded stiffly, Frank smiled, "It's okay. Nothing to be ash-"

"I was dating Josh at the time." He blurted and it was Frank's turn to be the deer. Drake stood and paced, waiting for the judgment to fall.

Catching up to Drake, Frank placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's okay. You two weren't blood anyway and... I mean, if you two were blood then there'd be a problem, but you're not so... it's all good, Drake. You're still the same person to me." He smiles and takes Drake into a hug that for a split second, Drake protests, then falls into and begins to sob.

"Thank you, Frank," He cries into his shoulder, "I've been cooped up for so long inside my own prison-"

"Drake, it's going to be okay. Now," He gently moves Drake away to look him in the eyes. His tear stained cheeks nearly bringing tears to Frank's, "This Mike guy... he's-"

"The better man, Frank," He answers softly, "Who happened to win."

The way to the concert was not nearly as quiet as the plane. Josh and Mike going back and forth with scenarios of ifs, maybes and trying to assure eachother no hard feelings no matter what.

Drake made his way to his own dressing room and paced nervously. To Frank's chagrin, even throwing up a little all the while refusing to follow Frank's advice to just "Chill!"

Mike and Josh continued their back and forths all the way to Drake's door, where they stopped dead and silent.

Looking at the name on the door, Josh fought to breathe. A nudge from Mike forced him to knock.

The knock sending Drake's heart into his chest. He goes for the door, but can't bring himself to open it.

Taking Drake by the shoulders, Frank leads him to the sofa and offers to get the door.

"Josh?" He says with a smile, showing him and, "You must be Mike." He says with a more forced smile, but not wanting any drama before a show, he keeps his cool, "Come in! Both of you!" He welcomes warmly, "Drake! Josh is here!" He keeps the smile as he slaps at Drake's knee to get him moving.

"Hey, Josh," He says coolly as he slowly gets up to stretch, "Mike! Long time no see." He plasters on a fake smile and saunters over the the pair, offering his hand. Taking Mike's, he heartily shakes it, "How was your flight? Hope you liked the seats. First class is the only way to go." He tries to play cool. Frank face-palms and Josh and Mike share a look and silent agreement.

"Hey!" Mike chimed in, "I'm going to find our seats. Why don't you two catch up and I'll get going?" He offered, noting Drake's look of not so much an agreement as a 'Yeah, maybe you better' look, "Right... so... I'll see you down there, Josh. Good luck, Drake." He adds, backing quickly out the door.

Noting the silence, Frank looks up to the stares, "I get it," He laughs nervously, "Okay. You two catch up and Drake... twenty minutes!" He reminds him as he too backs out.

The tension couldn't be cut with a Ginzu knife wheeling ninja and the silence deafening until Josh clears his throat, jolting Drake.

"Sorry," Josh says softly as he searches for more, "Drake... I really want to thank you for the invite-"

"Save it." He says coldly, falling back on the couch.

"What? You sent two tickets-"

"Yeah, but-"

"You didn't think I'd bring Mike?"

"No!" Drake cried, taking Josh aback, "I wasn't expecting _Mike_!" He gets up to pace, following the groove from earlier.

Josh goes to catch him, but he pulls away, "DRAKE!" He practically screams, stopping Drake in his tracks, "Listen to me; I do have pretty strong feelings for Mike, yes. It's something you're just going to have to get used to-"

"No. No, I don't." Drake tries hard to fight back tears. Shaking his head, he continues to mutter 'No, no'

"Please, don't do this Drake. You have so much... you're traveling-"

"And you could come with me-"

"No, this is your thing. My thing is school. My thing is science and maths-"

"Josh-"

"Please... I'm sorry, Drake. I really am-"

"So your decision is pretty much made then? That's it?"

Before Josh could say a word, Drake pulled him in, crashing their lips together.

Josh tried to fight it, but it was no use. The familiarity of it all; Drake's soft lips against his, his strong hands gripping his arms tight... it was all too much, and Josh's world came to a sudden crash and he pushes Drake away.

"What?!" Drake sobbed, "What's wrong?" He tried to take Josh back against him, to hold him, but Josh held him at bey.

"Drake... I don't think I can do this. I can't live _your_ lifestyle... we can't..." Unable to hold back any longer, Josh grabs Drake in for a strong hug and both break down into sobbing heaps.

"God," Drake chokes, "We're no better than a couple of weepy girls," He tries to joke, managing a quick chuckle from Josh.

"Yeah, but we're alright, right? We're cool?"

"Of course we are," Drake pushes away and looks at the clock, "You aren't planning on skipping out right after the show are you? There's usually a get together... alcohol free." He winks and nudges Josh's arm.

Unable to hold back, Josh smiles, "I'm proud of you for that, bro," He grabs Drake in for another hug, "I'll stick around... so long as you don't mind-"

Knowing what Josh was going to say, Drake pushes him away again and shakes his head, "No. I don't mind. But you know, he better treat you right, or so help me..."

"So help you what?"

He grins and nudges Josh again, "So help me I'll have to try and steal you back." He winks and takes Josh by the arm, showing him the way to his seats.

"_On_ stage, Drake?"

"On the side!" He looks over and waves to Mike and nods Josh on his way.

Taking the stage, the crowd going nuts, Josh looks out as the lights shine across the stadium.

"My God," He says in wonder, "This is incredible..."

"You act like you've never been to a concert before,"

"I have, just... not from the stage..." He looks over to his brother, "At least, not this magnitude..."

"A stadium?"

"Yeah..."

As the two get over their awe, Drake begins with the all too familiar chords of the song that started it all for Drake and rolling from there.

After all is done, Drake bows off the stage towards Josh and Mike to the sounds of 'encore' and 'more' and his name over and over.

"Doesn't get much better than this!" Drake sings, the bright smile Josh had fallen for spreading across his face, he bows to Josh and Mike and heads back out to cheers and cries for more.

"This song is a classic," He introduces, "It's a slow one, but it's beautiful and it's message holds the test of time," He nods towards Josh and Mike and the two are nearly blinded by a spot light, "This is going to that guy over there. Josh Nichols. My rock." As he begins to play, the crowd quiets down and the familiar docile tones of The Beatles ring from Drake's acoustic...

"_There are places I remember... all my life, though some have changed... some forever not for better... some have gone, and some remain... all these places have their moments... with lovers and friends, I still can recall... some are dead and some are living... in my life, I've loved them all..."_


End file.
